Taking the High Road - Live with Lon!

Well hello everybody. Welcome to live with Lon so great to have you and we're going to be continuing today. In our study of the Gospels. Wonderful study. In a wonderful section of the word of God. But before we do that, let me just say were going to pray, but just before we pray, let me remind you that we have a trip or two more pilgrimage to the holy land planned in late April, I urge you if you want to go to the holy land. This is a great time to go out.

We got all our spots and we are ready employees to step in right away as soon as Israel opens up so it'll be very exciting and if you're interested go to my website Lon Solomon ministries.com and will tell you all about okay and yes we still have room okay now let's dear heavenly father we come to you today and we want to pray and thank you so much for this vaccine that looks like it's snowing 95% effective and was developed at unprecedented speed. Thank you for your mercy to us into the human race, and I pray that this vaccine order these, these many vaccines will be approved and that we will see the end of this lockdown quarantine. All of this stuff and we will bring this coronavirus under control, but also want to pray for our nation.

After a very tumultuous week.

Father, I want to pray now that you would bring, and serenity to our nation and Lord, I don't know all that's going to happen with all the political maneuvering of the Lord just help us as believers trust you that you're in charge of our nation. You have a plan for our nation and whether it includes Mr. Trost's reelection, or whether it includes Mr. Biden's election, it doesn't matter. The plan of God is already set. So Lord help us to take hoping that and help us to rest in that and to know that you are the one who's in charge of all of this we can trust you always do what's right and what's best. And now, Lord, open our hearts and our minds to the word of God. We pray this in Jesus name. And everybody said a man okay well we here at Lon Solomon ministries remember what we do. We teach, stay with me. The Bible the holy Bible. Nothing but the Bible and then we apply that to your life in my life in a practical everyday way and what an exciting thing it is to teach the unvarnished truth of the word of God and to watch God work in people's lives. As a result I we get letters every week and emails every week telling us from all over the country how the Lord is using the Bible in their lives to radically transform their eternal destiny and their life here on earth and is not us. It's the Bible taught the way it should be taught and that it means what it says and it says what it means and we just praise the Lord my word of the Lord says in the book of Isaiah. I will send my word and it will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish the purpose for which I send it, which is to give people eternal life and to change their earthly life so that we been doing, we have been in the Gospels were working our way through the gospel of Matthew and Scott Conover supplementing it over with information from Mark and Luke's gospel since the three of them. The synoptic Gospels are very similar but particularly Luke has some passages. Matthew omits and vice versa are so we are in Matthew chapter 16 and let's pick up their end of course just to repeat.

We are using the new King James translation of the Bible.

And as I said were in Matthew chapter 16 so look with me and let's begin. Let's get the context of his remember a text without context is a pretext for what was at me again attacks the Bible verse without the context of the verses surrounded is a pretext of falsehood.

People take versus all the time and they taken like extremists of cooked spaghetti and they throw up on the wall and it sticks and they all stand around and go when you think that means I don't know what you think that means folks that is not how to interpret the Bible that spanned hermeneutics and interpreting the Bible is the only context with the verses before and the verses*text without context is a pretext so let's get the context fear in Matthew chapter 16 Peter has said no Lord, are you not going to Jerusalem and are not going to kill you. This is not going to happen to you and the Lord says, get behind me Satan could you not thinking about the interests of God you thinking about the interest of man yourself and because you don't want me to die if I don't die. There's no plan of salvation of the human race. And then he says in verse 24 of the chapter.

If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Now, in the context he's talking to Peter and the other disciples about the fact that they have to deny their personal wishes of Peter had a personal wish that the domicile of the Lord would not die in Jerusalem but we have to deny our personal wishes and we have to follow Jesus and the will of God, and take up our cross, even if that means sacrifice and suffering. That's okay.

That's what we have to do to be a follower of Jesus. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Jesus says where you find your life meaning. The purpose of your life you give it to me, you lose it on to me know you are seated CED you see the ownership of your life to me and then you find a real joy in the real purpose of the real meaning of living. The purpose for living.

We get up to serve the living God every day.

Every morning the meaning of living we find meaning in and excitement in serving Christ with our life instead of ourselves. Joy in life that God supernaturally comes from serving God is what Jesus is telling Peter and them you guys have got to forget about your own plans for life and give your life to me, and then finally the verse recover last week for what is a man profited, if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul, or what will a man give in exchange for his soul. Jesus is talking about our salvation that we get to heaven and what good is it if we never gave her life to Christ. We never ceded the ownership of our life to Christ and and so we get to heaven and we we have all the earthly treasure we built up but we lose our own so we don't get into heaven because you always get to heaven is by trusting Christ and giving him ownership of your life. And then Jesus says, global demand trade when even a bargain with for your soul. You can assail God like we talked about last week, Larry Ellison. I'll give you the island alumni if you let me year George Soros give you the money if you let me know. I'm sorry.

There's nothing you can trade for your soul, because the Lord owns all anyway and is trying to talk to Peter and the disciples and context here about giving their life away to Lord, giving their plans for their life away and not thinking about things from the human perspective, but from the perspective of God.

Now that's where we been, and since Jesus, mentions that you gonna lose your soul. He he goes ahead to make a comment about his return. Look at this. He says in verse 27 for the Son of Man meeting Jesus will come in the glory of his father with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to his or her works assuredly.

Verse 28. I say to you, there are some of you standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom now verse 28 goes right in to the next chapter. So vernacular discuss that today will discuss that next week because it really belongs to chapter 17 and the events of chapter 17 below. But Jesus said here at the end of chapter 16. He said the Son of Man will come in the glory of his father with his angels, and then he will not now but then he will reward each person according to their works now this theme throughout the is throughout the Bible that of the Lord Jesus Christ God our God is a just and righteous God, and that no one is going to get away with anything. In the end, no matter what they did. No matter how much it looks like they got away with it. They're not going to get away with that he's gonna reward every single person according to what they did. Hello let me read you here in the book of Romans. All right, I'm in the book of Romans chapter 2 verse six, but I pick up a couple verses before that. So we get the context of never versa for or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance God's patience with us is man to help us come to repentance. But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God versus X, who will render to each one according to his deeds. Well isn't that what Jesus just said in Matthew chapter 16. Of course it is. That's exactly what he just said in Romans chapter 12. A little look at verse 19. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place for wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord are no longer verse it doesn't say I might repay Nathan's I will repay. Galatians chapter 6 verse seven do not be deceived, God is not mocked.

Nobody makes a fool out of God, for whatsoever a person so loose that that also show they read and Romans two goes on to say there's no partiality with God. This is true for the Jew and Gentile. The Jewish people.

Maybe the chosen people for certain reasons, but they're not chosen automatically to go to heaven and they're not chosen to escape God's judgment upon their deeds is for every body. So this is the testimony of the Bible that God is going to even the score and as a result of that we have nothing to worry about nothing, or that nobody is going to get away with anything. My friends now. That's as far as we want to go in our passage was installed now under the ask our most important question.

So are you ready come on out here we go ready 1230 why, oh yes, and you know what comes next.

Jackie Gleason's old comment how we is that when you're driving to Brooklyn where the honeymooners with with Art Carney and and you, Jackie Gleason was set when you drive in itself. One of the roads. It says welcome to Brooklyn house read. It is I get a picture that maybe next week for anyway is a long okay I got that the Lord is going to settle accounts but when I walked out of my house on a Monday morning with differences make me will friends makes a huge difference to you and me to know this and to be assured of this. I'll tell you why, because without a single one of us who hasn't been treated rotten by somebody along the way maybe was a relative made was a friend.

Maybe it was an ex-boyfriend or an ex-girlfriend and ex-wife and ex-husband are somebody at work, a student at school neighbor on and on and on.

I could go, but we've all been treated nasty by somebody really bylaws somebody's in most cases and what they have done has hurt us and what they have done in some cases has damaged us sometimes. Seriously, parents can terribly damage their children. For example, an what is our first reaction folks are first reaction is to strike back. Our first reaction is to first of all, in online wish them badly with malice and thoughts of revenge and bitterness and anger towards them and then three often we look for the opportunity to actually do or say things to them that will hurt them back.

That will get them back. We all have done this and you know what David struggled with the same thing to the great man of God. There's a group of songs called the imprecatory Psalms and we put that word out on screen.

Imprecatory the word imprecatory literally means to wish harm or revenge upon somebody so these Psalms is Fortino are Psalms in which David expresses to the Lord the feelings that he has that the people who have heard him.

Back that they get paid back and I want you to read just a couple of these tooth some 55 verse 15 David prays let death take my enemies by surprise. Let them go down alive into the grave. Psalm 58 verse six.

Oh God, break their teeth in their mouths really Psalm 69 verse 28.

May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous, send them to hell.

God Psalm 109 made in May my enemies children be fatherless and his wife be a will. Psalm 137. How blessed will be the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

David says on I'm rooting for somebody to come take your babies and kill them against the rocks of this is amazing.

These Psalms and and so my friends how what we do. It sounds like. This is the inspired word of God and there is how do we reconcile this with Romans chapter 12 let's put Romans chapter 12 repay no one evil for evil.

If it is possible as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men, beloved verse 19 do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to read leader hello let me do it, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, your enemy hunger. See if he thirst, give them a drink for in doing so you will heap coals of fire on his head. What is God mean by that God means treating them nicely as you leave the job of event avenging the wrong he's done to you.

You leave that job to me. God says and I'll do a far better job than you'll ever do.

But if you avenge yourself well and I'm not doing you Artie did it look last verse, verse 21. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Do not let your desire for malice and revenge and do not let your hatred and your anger overcome you but instead you overcome with returning good to these people. Okay how we reconcile this with the imprecatory Psalms let their infants peace – against a rock. 11 go to hell letter.

Let the children be fatherless and their wife be in a will will I think it's it's really not that hard to reconcile this in Psalms, David is expressing his deepest and most sincere emotions. That's why people love the songs because when they read the Psalms they read of a man who knew what it was like the crime knew what it was like to be in grief. Who knew what it was like to be hurt and have anger against people who are hurting. Only knew what it was like to sin and have to come back and repent and David is very human in the Psalms, and so on. Just like in the sun. Sometimes he expresses doubt all Lord, why have you forsaken me. Where are you. Did David really doubt God. I don't think so.

On any major level, but I think he had moments that he did but the same way I is David really going to go – these these people's children against the rock, no, no, he was expressing his feelings in his emotions and his hurt his anger, which is which we all feel when someone mistreats us outpouring of his soul to the Lord. But that doesn't mean that that's not the way we should live. God makes it clear we should live according to Romans chapter 12 and ask the Holy Spirit to help us live according to Romans chapter 12 and let's look back at it one more time, not just the high spots ready versus 17 repay no one evil for evil 18 if it's possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men, 19 beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to God's wrath for its written, vengeance is mine, I will repay. Verse 21.

Do not be overcome by the evil of malice and revenge and wanting to return evil for evil, but overcome evil with good. This is how God wants us to live. Now I call this taking the high road. That's the title of the message. Taking the high road meaning we don't treat people the way they treat us when they treat us badly. We take a higher road. We if your enemy is hungry.

The Circe given something to drink because then you're leaving. Vengeance to the Lord and and you're not taking advantage of not being a lynch mob for this person. You're not being a vigilante force against this person you're leaving it to God.

You're being a tunnel to use our own phrase in our wall and you let me go right on through what they did to you and your saying God I not going to go down and lower myself to do back to them what they did to me God. I'm not going to go down and lower myself to mud wrestling with this person. I'm not doing that I'm taking the high road and that is the road that says I don't need to carry out my own vengeance on this person. I will need a muscle rate, wrestle with no why because I have an all seeing living all-knowing and all-powerful righteous Jost God who promises me that he is going to take care of whatever vengeance needs to have, may I have some times the amount of vengeance. It needs to happen is not as much as you think we get ourselves all worked up into a world where convinced people live just been absolutely crummy to us but we didn't know their motives and we didn't know the surrounding situation, God does. My point being God's the only one who's really capable of administering true justice. True vengeance appropriate justice. We will tend to take out a sledgehammer to kill a fly.

God will take everything into account and administer appropriate justice so he's the one that should do it. Not us. Nathan Alanis really hard to do that. I know I know. That's why we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us. That's why we need to be tunnels, not walls.

And that's why we have to believe God and what he says about himself. We have a week God if we have a God who we can be bamboozled if we have a God who can have whirlpool oversized by these people then it's a lot harder to get comfortable with him.

You know out of paying out vengeance. But if we have the God of the Bible.

Remember what I said is all-knowing is all. See, he's all-powerful, he's just he's righteous and he's promised to take vengeance on those who hurt us. We got that, God, and we can leave it with him. It's all about the size of your God.

It's all about your concept of God.

It's all about how deeply you understand who God is, the deeper you understand who our God is the easier it will be to leave vengeance to him. In the Bible, learn who our God is. You will be able to rent turn loose of it and give it to the Lord. KI love what Proverbs 2412 seriously put it on the screen.

Proverbs 2412 says if you say Shirley, we did not know this, you know we were doing sorry does not he who weighs the hearts considerate Ninos within your heart telling you to know what you were doing. He who keeps your soul. Does he not know it. What you did, of course, he knows that he sees everything and will he not render to each man and woman according to his deeds. My friends, God sees it.

All he knows it all. You are not ignored several long can I go to God and imprecatory way pour out my heart and just telling how angry I am and how much I wish that he would take vengeance on these people will David do David is, I think if that's how you really feeling to get it off your chest sure, why not tell God how you feeling, but we can't act on.

We can act on it in our mind. We got a struggle against to get rid of that malice to get rid of that anger to forgive those people by the power the Holy Spirit and we can act on it physically and tangibly by taking vengeance on those people in time and space no no no, we tell have gone out were feeling but we have to fight against. Remember, our job is not to give in the sentence the fight against it in those attitudes. Even the David expressed were wrong and sinful attitudes we have to fight against them there in the Bible because David really felt.

But the Lord makes it clear that these are not the feelings he wants us to have putting away all malice on the book of Colossians 6 putting away. Let every man be at peace with one another. Your goal and my goal is to be able to say look at this. Romans chapter 12 verse 18 as much as it depends on me. I admit peace with all men and women are forgiven for what they've done and an outlet what they've done right on through Jesus, and I can think of them in my mind without going great drawer, carjacked tire agenda known. I can think of them.

I remember what they do but the slight scar tissue now. I like ancient history, scar tissue has no feeling. It's just God's given view and I don't do laborers at them. I think sometimes sometimes to get there with certainty.

That's our goal struggle against sin and sinful attitudes, not to simply give into them and say well I'm just human. You will. We are just human, but were humans with the Holy Spirit and our job struggle against the sinful attitudes of our flesh. May God help us to the Abbotsford with our hands down in her eyes close, I would like to give you just a moment I'm giving it to myself as well to talk to God about some of the people in your heart who, when you think of them they come up on the video screen of your brain, your you've got malice and anger, and the girl girl girl is against him from some here to ask you a covenant with God and with the help of his spirit. You're going to let go with may not be today but you're going to be a beginning today struggle against like all of it power the Holy Spirit let God take the responsibility to deal.

This take a moment to pray. Beloved repay no one evil for evil, but is much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to God's wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord, Lord, help bring this to pass in our hearts for the glory of God, and we pray this in Jesus name.

And everybody said a man. Okay, my friends, thanks so much for being with us. Remember the biggest prisoner in the world is the person who's a prisoner to his own bitterness and malice towards people.

This truth to God is teaching us here is a liberating truth that sets us free and we can be at peace with all men and women God is trying to search for and love. So work with pay.

May God bless you and Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

See you next week. My